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| International |
| Kuwaiti assails his nation for timidity |
| 2001-10-15 |
In a stunning denunciation of what he called a "shameful" betrayal of the United States, a former Kuwaiti government minister and member of the ruling family has scorned what he called his country's "hesitant and timid" support for America's war against terrorism. Writing in a London-based Arabic daily, Sheik Saud Nasser al-Sabah, Kuwait's former oil and information minister, criticized what he described as his country's lackluster support for the American-led campaign against Osama bin Laden and his associates. He blamed his government's policy of "abdication" on Kuwait's militant Islamic groups and some of their charities, which he accused of having "hijacked" the country's foreign policy. "I say that this country of ours is kidnapped, hijacked by groups that call themselves Islamic but in truth use Islam as a cover and a garb for political goals," he wrote in Asharq al-Awset, a popular Saudi- owned newspaper. Sheik Saud called such groups "a menace" not only to the future of Kuwait, but to "the Arab world as a whole," and urged his fellow Kuwaitis and other Arabs to be "brave" in opposing them. "We should remove the veil of secrecy that protects these groups and their financial and political activities in Kuwait and abroad," he wrote. If not, he warned, "we will face more destruction and ruin." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |